Like a high resolution photograph, Hans Holbein achieves hyper realism in The Ambassadors (1533) using oil paint on an oak panel. Around two metres high and wide the large work is balanced by two dominant figures. Jean de Dinteville, the French ambassador to England is on the left, and on the right stands his friend the bishop of Lavaur, Georges de Selve. The men’s attire show their wealth and power as Dinteville wears an expensive fur lined cloak with a velvet and satin tunic. In comparison de Selve embodies the religious man of that time and is dressed more modestly in a dark fur cloak and hat. However his attire also suggests luxury as his cloak is dyed black, at the time black dye was expensive and prized.The posture of each man acts as a visual contrast between the active and the contemplative life. Jean de Dinteville stands powerfully and ‘owns’ his surroundings as he leans on a shelf and puffs out his chest, the effect is one that emmanates pride and respect. His gold medallion and matching gold dagger indicate strength and luxury. Less conspicuous is the bishop’s stance as he tries to mould to his environment rather then reveal his authority. Selve’s elbow also rests on the shelf and touches a book suggestng his interest in knowledge and intellectual thought. The set of shelves physically link the men and feature celestial-related items on the top shelf resting on a persian carpet and terrestial related items on the bottom shelf. This can be seen as the division between heaven represented by a celestial globe, compasses and a sundial and the earth represented through books, a terrestrial globe, arithmetic books and instruments. The royal green colooured curtain behind the friends is a symbol of honour and partially covers a crucifix in the top left corner. Beneath the men is an intricately patterned marble floor with geometric shapes that resembles the floor in Westminster Cathedral. This floor in westminster is a sort of diagram to represent the ‘macrocosm’ – the universe as a whole. This depiction of this floor in The Ambassadors may allude to the ambassadors knowledge of science and high education. Lastly the warped shape in the foreground that looks like driftwood is actually an anamorphic skull which can only be seen from a side angle.
Characteristic of the Renaissance style, Holbein has used careful oil paint application to resemble reality. The likeliness of the people to real life is due to intense detail and multiple layers of rich oil paints which have formed a glaze that recreates the fullness of flesh onto the 2D surface. A possible technique Holbein used to produce this extreme realism is camera obscura. This involves the projection of an object using a convex lens into a darkened box where it can then be traced or drawn onto paper. Holbein’s realism techniques may also lend itself to conceptual ideas of the humanism movement. It suggests humanism because it represents something that physically exists (humans) not something that is abstract like religion or divinity which is just a concept and can’t be seen or exist in earthly environments. The Ambassadors reflects Holbein’s advanced concept of linear perspective as he captures 3D qualities of height, width and size onto the flat oak panel. He achieves this through shadowing and tonal contrast showing depth and negative space. His use of angles to show depth and viewpoint also establishes perspective especially seen in the floor as the pattern seems to recede into the background. For textural areas Hans Holbein uses different shaped brushes with different bristles. His brush strokes also differ from painting fur to painting fabric which differentiates the textures. The religious and political conflict of the time is represented in the materials depicted such as the rich fabrics of the ambassador and the modest fur of the bishop. It explores how the two aim to coexist in society and suggests tensions. The Ambassadors is a heavily iconographic artwork that references complex ideas like mortality, religious and political conflict and power dynamics through symbols in the objects and composition. The objects are contextually relevant as they represent the Renaissance’s progressive thinking in the books, globes and compasses and the reformation through the hidden crucifix, the broken string on the lute and the title of the hymns. The movement known as the Enlightenment emerged at this time when the Catholic Church was challenged and had a tarnished reputation; it promoted reasoning and individualism not tradition. This is visually communicated through the modest posture of the Bishop and lack of religious propaganda. Instead objects associated with discovery and research like globes, sundials, compasses and calendars are prominently placed on the shelves. The hymnal is a Lutheran hymnal, this is a reference to the conflict of religious beliefs during the reformation and the emergence of Lutheranism as the Catholic Church broke apart. The concept of music/hymns maybe a metaphor for the bishops desire to regain harmony and peace amidst the political and religious unrest of the reformation. The selection of objects on each shelf opposes each other as the top shelf is related to heavenly ideas and the bottom shelf is associated with earthly concepts. This visual separation may be a metaphor for the divergence between church and politics/knowledge/science at the time. I believe the secondary status of religious objects in the work is a response to the humanist ideals and mindsets of the time as seen by the hidden crucifix in the top left corner. Although hidden the crucifix is hugely significant and important in the painting as it epitomises the major events and controversies during Holbein’s context. I think the painting also serves as a memento mori as it contains Vanitas tradition conventions like the broken lute string that foreshadows the impermanency of life. Similarly the skull conveys a sense of inevitability which in turn correlates with the idea of humanism as humans live finite lives that will ultimately end. The anamorphic nature of the skull opposes human vision which may be a metaphor for understanding – human knowledge is limited by time and space. On the contrary God can know and see all things. The broken lute string may also reference the imperfection of the world compared to Gods perfect creation and also the discord of politics and religion at the time. John North, art critic, says the painting is inviting us, “to look upwards to contemplate Christ after he had made the ultimate sacrifice, and to look down to a symbol of death and the place of death, to which Christ has for the time being descended, and which by that sacrifice he will vanquish.” |
|